113th Congress, going down in history for its inaction, has a critical December to-do list - The Washington Post

 113th Congress, going down in history for its inaction, has a critical December to-do list - The Washington Post

Paul Kane: “From the confirmation of a new Fed chairman to the expiration of dairy pricing rules, House and Senate leaders head into the final month of 2013 with a checklist that is short but critical.. … Rather than syncing up those final two weeks, the House comes in Monday and expects to adjourn for the year by Dec. 13, while the Senate does not return from the Thanksgiving break until Dec. 9 and has Dec. 20 at its tentative departure date.
“That leaves only a few mid-December days for in-person negotiations among top congressional leaders. … [Budget] talks now focus on just a few possible trade-offs that give agencies some relief from the sequestration caps set in the 2011 [BCA] … in exchange for some savings drawn from entitlement programs. Still, many insiders are betting that even a small bargain is beyond reach and that, instead, congressional leaders will have to figure out early next year how to keep the government running when funding authority expires Jan. 15.”